What should you know if you decide to start a business?

Get some basic information first. For example, if you’re thinking about becoming self-employed versus being employed, speak to some other self-employed legal nurse consultants first. Ask them about the upside and the downside of being self-employed. Ask them about things they wish they had known beforehand or perhaps lessons that they have learned because then you get a full picture of what it’s really going to be like.

You get more information about it rather than just saying “Maybe I should try being self-employed. I don’t know what’s going to happen.” You get some information and you’re able to make a better decision and go in with your eyes a little bit more wide open.

The importance of Groups When You Start a Business

It’s also important to surround yourself with other people who are successfully doing the thing that you want to do. For example with legal nurse consultants it would be joining and being active in the American Association of Legal Nurse Consultants. (Note: Pat is a national past president of this organization.)

Attend local meetings and conferences, getting on a committee or getting on the board. You’re surrounding yourself with other people who are doing a thing that you want to do or that you’re getting started in. It makes sense to rub elbows with those who are successfully doing that thing. You’re then developing a support system, an information pipeline. You have people to ask questions of, to bounce ideas off of and to give you a sense of perspective.

Of course by staying active in your professional associations, you’re also staying connected to cutting edge information that affects your profession and your specialty. There are other associations like the National Nurses in Business Association and other organizations as well. It really will help to minimize your risk where you’re constantly putting yourself with people who are knowledgeable and who have experience.

Consider associations like the National Association of Women Business Owners. One of the benefits the opportunities to go to meetings, be on committees with other professional people, accountants, attorneys, insurance agent and other people who also have expertise that you need to run your business.
You develop a network of people you can call.

You minimize when your risk when you start a business by staying connected to people who have expertise, who have experience that can help and support you, and who hopefully you can help and support at the same time.

You can’t stay isolated in business. You can’t operate in a vacuum. You have to create a support network of other people that are going to help you in your journey.

Break out of just the purely nursing world. If you are focused on the steps to start a business, you can learn a huge amount from the National Speakers Association or from the National Association of Women Business Owners. There is a group in some parts of the country called the American Business Women’s Association, which I joined.

I think the key message is to seek out other groups. The Chamber of Commerce is another good example, but get beyond the concept of only associating with nurses. There’s so much that you can learn from business owners and other individuals who have those interests that you have when you are facing making a change or the decision to start a business.

Donna Cardillo RN shared her thoughts on starting a business and taking risks in her podcast aired on LegalNursePodcasts.com. Listen to her at this link.